Went alone to check out the«Pom» based on the first review. The restaurant is very small and modestly outfitted – you’ll probably be happier ordering the food to go. I ordered the rice with«Pom» for € 8. It’s very tasty, especially if you add the sauces provided in separate containers; it reminded me of tastes from Indian, Malaysian, and Indonesian cuisines, but I couldn’t really find any South American or Jewish influences(the prior review mentioned Jewish cuisine). My main complaint is that there was quite a lot of rice but not very much pom!(I’m pretty sure this was not an € 8 appetizer.) Glad to have tried it out, but the meager décor and portions make it unlikely I’ll return.
Rob C.
Tu valoración: 5 Notting Hill, London, United Kingdom
If you are in Amsterdam, craving for something truly unique and hard to find elsewhere in the world — but not as bland as Dutch food: go checkout the Surinamese restaurants. Surinamese cuisine is like the cuisines of the Dutch Empire blended together(think lots of Indonesian influences, quite some Indian, a bit North-European, Chinese, some Creole, some Portugese-Jewish) and then conserved in what is geographically South-American jungle, but culturally 100% Caribbean — developed overtime into an all-new cuisine simply known as «Surinamese». I cannot stress enough how awesomely cool this is, culinary wise. For my American friends who are familiar with the Asian influence in their own country, here are some pointers: Want something like phở(but better)? Order the saoto soup(my fave!), a spicy chicken broth with an egg, longbeans, super-hot«sambal»(Indonesian chili sauce with shrimp paste. So much more tasty than any other chili sauce you have ever tried. You will never want to eat factory produced chiracha after this anymore) Want a bahn-mi? Ask for a «broodje sate, met zuur»(«met zuur» indicates Surinamese style pickled veggies added). Want something you have never had before? Order the«pom» a Jewish-Creole dish mate from pom-tayer, unavailable in the United States due to being made from toxic amazone tayer roots when consumed raw. Dont worry, this stuff gets cooked just right and is amazingly tasty– on a bun(«broodje») or just as a full meal with chicken and side dishes. Want something the local Surinamese will order when longing for home? Ask for«BBR», or «Brown Beans with Rice»(Dutch: Bruine Bonen met Rijst). This is a true classic. Their signature dish is, without a doubt: satay. Amazingly well done satay skeweres in a thick spicy amazon chili pepper and shrimp paste infused peanut butter sauce(with some tamarinde in it, I know this is their secret ingredient but they refuse to admit or deny it! It’s soo yummie) This place is a take away center for the locals, I’m sure the service will piss first time American visitors off(like most Dutch restaurants will), as there’s no free water, general slowness, the seats are not great either, etc. Heck, there’s about 4 or 5 tables in total. Also you gotta queue up to order or you won’t be served. However, if you can bear all of that — this place still scores a 5 out of 5 on my list for pure uniqueness, and being proper Surinamese in all ways — not to mention that everything here is made at the restaurant, no use of half-fabricates and last but not least: a steady quality. The past 10 years or so these guys have been minding their own business, no fancy facebook pages or even a website — this is good old fashioned old school Surinamese(cash only!) Visit this place and you have something to really brag about to your hipsters back home. Euro-Amazon-Asian Cuisine. Yeah good luck finding that anywhere else. Off-menu items: ask for the«dawet», a lemon-grass infused sweet pink drink — a true Surinamese classic. Bit like boba tea but different. Might be available on a warm day, might not. Who knows. Dang, I’m homesick after writing this.
